Deja que el mundo condimente tu vida

Cafetalk Tutor's Column

Tutor Dietz 's Column

Politeness - Höflichkeit

2024-10-19

Have you ever wondered how to express the politeness level of e.g. ございます in German or English?
お店はあちらにございます。In English, we cannot do much besides using over there and especially using a polite tone to sound more polite:
The shop is over there.
In German, we can express politeness my using a more refined verb like befindet sich, to add more politeness we would use some expressions like "Der Laden ist gleich dort drüben, falls Sie ihn suchen." Here we are adding a politeness by slightly offering help.
In a more business context we could start with expressing the will to help: "Gerne helfe ich Ihnen weiter."
This corresponds to the English version: "I'd be happy to assist: the shop is over there."

So in German (and English), we do not have other special verbs for showing the politeness, but by using refined verbs, adding polite expressions and especially with the tone we are able to express politeness. 


Got a question? Click to Chat